A Scroll for Future Days (36:1-32) 593and you shall read aloud ... in the hearing of the people in the house of
Yahweh... yes, also in the hearing of all Judah ... you shall read them aloud
The LXX, perhaps because it omits "the words of Yahweh" earlier in the verse,
reads at the end: "you shall read to them (autois)." But McKane points out that
the Vg, which otherwise follows MT, also ends with leges eis ("you shall read to
them"). On a later occasion Jeremiah commands Seraiah, Baruch's brother,
that when he arrives in Babylon on a state visit he is to "read aloud" (qr)) a
scroll he has brought with him ( 51 :60-61) containing judgment oracles against
that nation.
that you have written from my dictation the words of Yahweh. The LXX omits,
having only "read aloud in this roll" (avagnose en to chartio touto ). The omis-
sion can be attributed to haplography (homoeoteleuton: h ... h).
on a fast day. Hebrew beyom $Om. Jeremiah is anticipating a fast day, which
raises the question of whether he had a fixed day in mind. There is no clear evi-
dence for fixed days of fasting in preexilic Israel or Judah, except possibly the
Day of Atonement, where the paraphrastic "affiict oneself" (<nh + nepes) in P
legislation (Lev 16:29, 31; 23:27, 32) is thought to be a technical term for "carry
out fasting." Fixed days of fasting came in the postexilic period, when the de-
struction of Jerusalem was remembered (Zech 7: 3, 5; 8: 19; Esth 9: 31 ). Then the
Day of Atonement called for fasting and other privations (Mishnah Yoma 8).
Public fasts in preexilic times seem to have been in response to national emer-
gencies, e.g., the death of a king (1 Sam 31:13; 2 Sam 1:12), a military defeat or
a military threat (Judg 20:26; 2 Chr 20:3), a plague (Joel 1:14), or a drought (Jer
14: 12). Jeremiah in the present case appears to be anticipating a fast in response
to the military threat posed by Babylon following its victory at Carchemish (see
below v 9). The reason for selecting a fast day to read the scroll would be that
many people would be present in Jerusalem, and a fast would likely render
them more receptive to a chastening word; it might even lead them to repen-
tance (Calvin; cf. 1 Sam 7:6; Jonah 3:5; Joel 2:12-13; Ecc 7:2).
yes, also in the hearing of all Judah who come from their cities, you shall read
them aloud. People from the outlying areas will be in Jerusalem for this impor-
tant occasion; cf. 26:2.
- Perhaps their petition will be laid before Yahweh, and they will tum each per-
son from his evil way, for great is the anger and wrath that Yahweh has spoken to-
ward this people. The same hope is expressed in v 3, only now Jeremiah conveys
it to Baruch. Jeremiah is hoping for prayer and repentance on the day of fasting.
On the expression "to lay one's petition before" someone, see Note for 37:20.
for great is the anger and wrath that Yahweh has spoken toward this people.
Compare Josiah's words after hearing the newly found law-book being read
(2 Kgs 22:13). On the cliche "anger and wrath," see Note for 21:5. - And Baruch son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah, the prophet,
commanded him. A summary statement similar to those in 26:24; 28:17; and
36:32. The LXX omits Baruch's patronym and Jeremiah's title.